DPLA Welcomes Four New Service Hubs to Our Growing Network

The Digital Public Library of America is pleased to announce the addition of four Service Hubs that will be joining our Hub network. The Hubs represent Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The addition of these Hubs continues our efforts to help build local community and capacity, and further efforts to build an on-ramp to DPLA participation for every cultural heritage institution in the United States and its territories.

These Hubs were selected from the second round of our application process for new DPLA Hubs. Each Hub has a strong commitment to bring together the cultural heritage content in their state to be a part of DPLA, and to build community and data quality among the participants.

In Illinois, the Service Hub responsibilities will be shared by the Illinois State Library, the Chicago Public Library, the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries of Illinois (CARLI), and the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. More information about the Illinois planning process can be found here. Illinois plans to make available collections documenting coal mining in the state, World War II photographs taken by an Illinois veteran and photographer, and collections documenting rural healthcare in the state.

In Michigan, the Service Hub responsibilities will be shared by the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Wayne State University, Western Michigan University, the Midwest Collaborative for Library Services and the Library of Michigan. Collections to be shared with the DPLA cover topics including the history of the Motor City, historically significant American cookbooks, and Civil War diaries from the Midwest.

In Pennsylvania, the Service Hub will be led by Temple University, Penn State University, University of Pennsylvania and Free Library of Philadelphia in partnership with the Philadelphia Consortium of Special Collections Libraries (PACSCL) and the Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium (PALCI), among other key institutions throughout the state. More information about the Service Hub planning process in Pennsylvania can be found here. Collections to be shared with DPLA cover topics including the Civil Rights Movement in Pennsylvania, Early American History, and the Pittsburgh Iron and Steel Industry.

The final Service Hub, representing Wisconsin will be led by Wisconsin Library Services (WiLS) in partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Milwaukee Public Library, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and Wisconsin Historical Society. The Wisconsin Service Hub will build off of the Recollection Wisconsin statewide initiative. Materials to be made available document the American Civil Rights Movement’s Freedom Summer and the diversity of Wisconsin, including collections documenting the lives of Native Americans in the state.

“We are excited to welcome these four new Service Hubs to the DPLA Network,” said Emily Gore, DPLA Director for Content. “These four states have each led robust, collaborative planning efforts and will undoubtedly be strong contributors to the DPLA Hubs Network. We look forward to making their materials available in the coming months.”